Odor-able Kitty
Odor-able Kitty is a 1945 Looney Tunes short directed by Chuck Jones. Plot After so much abuse (being kicked by a butcher for looking at the meat in the windows, swatted with a broom by a housewife, and beaten up by a pitbull), a cat decides to pose as a skunk using black and white paint, Limburger cheese, onions and garlic so he can scare off his bullies, which all turned out to be successful. After raiding a meat shop, the cat relaxes on a field, happy and full. Unfortunately, its stench attracts the unwanted attention of a French-speaking skunk, who falls for him. The cat runs from him and hides in a tree, which the skunk manages to find with ease. The cat runs into town, grabbing a skunk fur to trick the skunk into thinking that it is him instead. The cat climbs onto a tall pillar and warns him that if he takes one step closer, he'll jump to his death. The skunk doesn't listen, and the cat tosses the fur off. As the skunk mourns the death of the supposed skunk, the cat sneaks away. This doesn't work, for as soon as he spots the cat, he cuddles it. Continuing to run, a dog believes that the cat is a skunk, and faints when it sees the real skunk. Finally, the cat disguises itself as Bugs Bunny to fool the skunk. A chase ensues. Running is no use as the cat soon finds itself tired and worn out. The skunk finally captures the painted cat and cuddles with him until a woman taps on his shoulder and screams, "Henry!" Not only is the amorous skunk already married with children, but his French accent disappears when he tries to explain himself to his wife and makes up a poor excuse but it isn't believed and he gets whacked on his head. As Henry's wife clobbers her unfaithful husband, the cat wakes up and notices the scene to quickly crawl away. Realizing that his old life wasn't all bad, he cleans himself up, and happily goes back to a life of being kicked, swatted, and beaten. He contently states "Ah, this is the life." Gallery Odor able.jpg|Unrestored Title Card f1c1436110fbf6ffd090fe42992ac4d4.jpg|Lobby Card Odor-able_kitty_bugs.png|Bugs Bunny's cameo Availability * (1991) LaserDisc - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 1, Side 2: Firsts * (1992) VHS - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 2: Firsts * (1992) VHS - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes VHS box set * (2005) DVD - Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3, Disc Four (with optional audio commentary by Michael Barrier) * (2011) DVD - Looney Tunes Super Stars' Pepé Le Pew: Zee Best of Zee Best Notes * This is the first appearance of Pepé Le Pew. * Chuck Jones, a co-creator for the character, also credited Michael Maltese with contributing to the character concept.Thompson (1998), p. 240-241 * Pepé is known as Henry in this short. He would not get his name until "For Scent-imental Reasons". * In this cartoon, Pepé has a wife and two children. This is the only time Pepé is married; in all other cartoons he is a bachelor. * Unlike all other cartoons where Pepé's French accent is genuine, in this cartoon his French accent is faked. * Bugs Bunny makes a cameo near the ending, but this is only a costume. * In this cartoon and "Scent-imental over You", Pepé lived in America instead of France. * This is the last cartoon to have the PRODUCED BY WARNER BROS. CARTOONS at the ending and RELEASED BY WARNER BROS. PICTURES INC. * This is also the final cartoon to use the 1944-45 Blue Color Rings and Red Background. * A mouse resembling Hubie makes a cameo appearance in this cartoon, running out of the butcher's shop yelling "SKUUNKKK!!!!" when the cat (disguised as a skunk) enters the butcher's shop. * This not part of the typical formula for the Pepé Le Pew series of cartoons, since the character is "unknowingly" attracted to a male cat. Most of the films in the series are "Picaresque stories of seduction and sexual conquest or its failure". Part of the film's twist ending is that Pepé is revealed as an American skunk who fakes his French accent. Given the theme of a married man/skunk attempting the seduction of another male, Ken Jennings suggests this film could be of interest to queer studies. Jennings sees the cat as a cross-dresser.Jennings (2008), p. 7 * The cat in this short resembles Claude Cat. * This short is one of six Pepe Le Pew cartoons not written by Michael Maltese (instead it's written by Tedd Pierce). The others are "Odor of the Day" (written by Lloyd Turner), "Dog Pounded" (written by Warren Foster, though this is debatable, as "Dog Pounded" is a Sylvester and Tweety cartoon with Pepe Le Pew in a cameo role near the end), "Two Scent's Worth" (written by Chuck Jones), "A Scent of The Matterhorn" (also written by Chuck Jones) and "Louvre, Come Back to Me" (which was written by John Dunn). The next Pepe short "Scent-imental Over You" has both Michael Maltese and Tedd Pierce credited as writers, and doesn't count as one of the Pepe cartoons not written by Maltese. References Category:Looney Tunes Shorts Category:Cartoons directed by Chuck Jones Category:Pepe Le Pew Cartoons Category:Blue Ribbon reissues Category:Shorts Category:1945 Category:Cartoons written by Tedd Pierce Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn Category:Cartoons produced by Eddie Selzer Category:Cartoons in a.a.p. package